I Fell Down a Rabbit Hole...and Came Up in South Africa Pt 2
The part of our trip that forever changed us
I wrote a few days ago about one aspect of our time in South Africa nine years ago and said I’d share about the other part of it…here’s part 2…
So, our time in South Africa nine years ago was not only taking in the awesome natural beauty of the country and the people but also learning from and honoring the courageous history of those who fought against Apartheid and how the country has continued to grow and change since Apartheid ended. Our time in the country started in Cape Town and then moved up what is known as the Garden Route to Durban and then up to Johannesburg and Soweto.
Cape Town - Robben Island
Off the coast of Cape Town is the prison where Nelson Mandela and many others were held for their fight against the oppressive government at the time. Our guide was formerly imprisoned there and shared stories of his experience there as well as his interactions and relationship with Mandela and other freedom activists.
This mural is what greets visitors to the island today coming in on the same docks where prisoners were brought.
This pile of rocks is far more than just a pile of rocks. This is in the limestone quarry that was one of the primary places that prisoners were brutally forced to work day after day. In the years that followed Mandela’s ascent to the presidency of South Africa, he hosted an event at Robben Island to honor the work of other freedom activists throughout the world. At one point, he picked up a rock on the ground and shared that the rock represented his bitterness and anger at what had happened. He then placed the rock on the ground saying that it signified him letting go of his anger and then he invited others to do the same. Those who were at the event came up and made this pile of rocks. After the event, the South African government made a law that no rocks could be taken off the pile and that it would stay as a memorial to forgiveness and new beginnings.
Cape Town - District Six Museum
I was unaware of the history of District Six and the other areas throughout South Africa that the government annexed and forcibly removed the residents who had lived there for generations. District Six, near Cape Town, was one of those places. The government posted signs that residents had a week to voluntarily leave to the new area they would be given. Those who stayed after those seven days would be forcibly removed. Unlike many other similar areas in South Africa, District Six was not fully redeveloped and this museum is an archaeological record of what was left and of the stories of those who had lived there. While my oldest and I were looking at one of the photos, a man named Neuwa approached us and pointed to the young boy in the photo and said, “that’s me.”
We spent the next 30 minutes or so listening to him tell the story of his experience and of his journey to coming to letting go and forgiveness as he learned from the example of Mandela. I cannot even imagine dealing with something like that.
It is what took place at District Six and so many other places in the country that led to Desmond Tutu accusing Israel of similar actions with what they have done with the settlements in the Palestinian Territories. While they are not a 1:1 equality, there is overlap and one can understand why Tutu and others responded to Israel’s actions in the way they have.
Here are other photos from the museum and surrounding. Take special note of the handwritten message.
Cape Town - Harbor
South Africa is the only country in the world to have four Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. Albert Luthuli (1960), Desmond Tutu, (1984), and F.W. DeKlerk and Nelson Mandela (1993). They are memorialized by these statues in the harbor area of Cape Town.
Between Cape Town and Durban
As we traveled up from Cape Town along the Garden Route, we stayed in East London in preparation for a visit with the girl who we had been sponsoring through World Vision. We spent the day with the World Vision staff, visiting her school, and then her home. In respect for her privacy, I am not including photos of her here. But I did want to share these photos that speak several things of that time.
This board was in the World Vision office before we went to her school. I was humbled to see the work that the WV staff was doing every day for the people of that part of South Africa. The reality was that, if not for the work of many of the NGOs in the area, life would be even more challenging for the people living in these parts of the country. This board and others had list after list of the things they were involved with. What was striking to me was that they were partnered with many organizations that may not have fully aligned with World Vision’s theological viewpoints but that were necessary partners because they were working for the people of South Africa.
It was also at this time when we were having breakfast the morning we were to go to the World Vision office that we saw the news on the BBC about the massacre at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. As we watched the news about the horrific event and that the shooter had been wearing patches of the former apartheid government, our host at the guest house asked us simply, “what is wrong with America?” We could only respond, “if we only knew.”
Looking back at what I wrote on that day in my journal, it saddens me to see that so little has changed in our country. We still worship guns, we still see shooting after shooting and do nothing. The Charleston shooting was three years after Sandy Hook and seven years before Uvalde with how many in between and since? Lord in your mercy...
Mandela Capture Site - Near Durban
At the guest house where we were staying in Durban, our host asked us if we were planning on visiting the capture site. We had no idea what he was talking about and he shared about the creation of this amazing sculpture recognizing the place where Mandela was arrested that eventually led to his imprisonment at Robben Island. The site was not far off the main road and we stopped. It was an incredible work of art but even more so told the story of what took place when Mandela was arrested.
We were reminded at the site that it was not only the South African government that was after Mandela but it was also the CIA that tipped the government off to Mandela’s location. It was believed that Mandela was a communist and therefore was a greater threat to the US than the oppressive apartheid government. It was a reminder that our country’s hands are not as clean as we like to think they are.
Johannesburg and Soweto
We spent the remainder of our time in Johannesburg and Soweto. There we stopped at the homes of both Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu that were actually diagonally across the street from one another.
We also were driven through Soweto, hearing the stories of what had been in Soweto and the realities of it today.
We also stopped at the memorial to Hector Zolile Pieterson, a young boy who was one of 23 black students in Soweto who were killed as they protested the unequal and oppressive educational system that was forced upon them.
At the link below is the photograph that echoed across the world at the brutality that was taking place throughout South Africa. In some ways, it was a moment similar to the death of Medgar Evars in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Click this link for more about this horrific incident. .
The Apartheid Museum
The Apartheid Museum is a necessary stop. This is a museum that sits right on the border between Johannesburg and Soweto and tells the story of the Apartheid regime and the fight for freedom that took place. It was not an easy place to visit for any of us, especially our kids who were 12, 12, and 10 at the time. But these are stories that need to be remembered, told, and processed so that we do not repeat it over and over. Each of the sticks in the above photo represented a commitment from visitors to the museum to take actions toward a new way to live. The museum walked people through examples of the racist policies and actions, into a replica of one of the solitary confinement cells that activists were held in, a room of nooses hanging representing the many who were unjustly killed, and much more that was heartbreaking and horrifying to go through.
The museum also centered on the story of Mandela’s life and his work - recognizing that he changed throughout his life - from one who was in favor of violent revolution to one who sought to find a new way to fight.
Finally, the museum also tells the story of the new constitution that was written for South Africa. One that is written in the many different official languages and dialects throughout the country. A room was dedicated to the South African Bill of Rights and also a document that recognizes the horrors of the past and makes a commitment to try to live into something new.
There is much we can learn from this in our country. Our country has a beautiful and inspiring history in so many ways. But at the same time, we have much that is shameful and horrific. We cannot center on the inspiring stories but leave behind the shame nor can we go the other way. I love my country and believe in the ideals of our country but we are an ongoing experiment and a continual work-in-progress where we have to recognize, honor, celebrate, and also repent of things in our past so that we can move into a new future.
South Africa, while still far from perfect, gives us an example through the truth and reconciliation commission process and the fact that throughout the country continues to tell the honest story of what took place.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for indulging me as I remembered this transformative month in our lives. It was a trip that changed each of our lives. None of us came home the same, whether two middle-aged parents or three pre-teen children.
Grace, Peace, Love, and Joy,
Ed
Have you read Lisa-Jo Baker's book It wasn't Roaring, it was Weeping? She grew up in SA and is an amazing storyteller
Your post gives me hope. It makes me want to see South Africa for myself? It makes me want to find a way to help fix what is wrong in America. Thank you for taking the time to tell about your experience of learning, the story, the struggle.